Stacked Pear Spinach Salad

Have you ever seen a salad so beautiful? Oh I just love everything about it. The pear goes so well with the maple-syrup vinaigrette, blue cheese and candied pecans. And the presentation, oh the presentation!

You can serve this salad vertically or horizontally. And while serving it vertically makes for a truly stunning presentation, be careful because it’s hard to keep it standing!

So on a day-to-day basis, I serve this salad “caprese style,” with the pear and spinach alternating like tomato and mozzarella.

Simply slice the pear into 5-7 slices, crossways, so you have nice round circles. (As my friend Tyler wisely suggested, you can core the pear with an apple corer first to remove the seeds. Keep the top stem intact though, because it looks so cute poking out like that :)

In a medium bowl, dress the spinach and mix it with a little of the cheese and pecans. Then slide a little of that goodness in between each slice of pear. The recipe makes plenty of dressing, but you may not use it all . . . depending how big or small your pears are, and how much dressing you like.

Garnish with remaining cheese and pecans. And if you like it sweet (like I do!), drizzle with a little remaining maple syrup on top and serve!